The students had many questions for the astronaut.
Pekka Pääkkö
On Monday, newly arrived astronaut Marcus Wandt lectured to curious students at KTH – who, among other things, learned why he was not allowed to have his licorice to himself on the journey in space.
The venue at the Royal University of Technology in Stockholm holds 500 people and every single chair is occupied as we wait for Marcus Wandt to make his entrance.
Christer Fuglesang is responsible for the master’s program in Aerospace Engineering at KTH and is already on stage and is connecting his computer.
Suddenly, the last tab he visited appears on the projector screen, “Xbox.com” and a laugh spreads in the audience.
After a while of waiting, KTH’s pro-rector Mikael Lindström welcomes Marcus Wandt to the stage.
– We welcome Marcus Wandt on stage, even though he has an engineering degree from Chalmers!
Marcus Wandt was greeted by loud applause when he made his entrance at KTH on Monday.
Pekka Pääkkö
Marcus Wandt landed in Sweden on Sunday and today he is on site at KTH to lecture to curious students. Although he has a solid education both as an engineer and fighter pilot, it was difficult to fully prepare for the space journey.
– At the postponement we sat with the clock in front of our faces and when it hit zero the acceleration started immediately. I’ve flown many fighter jets so it felt natural, but only for a few seconds. The difference is that this kind of acceleration just goes on and on. It gave a completely unexpected feeling of speed which was amazing!
The students had many questions for the astronaut.
Pekka Pääkkö
Out of 22,500 applicants for a new European astronaut group, Marcus Wandt was one of 17 selected. On the international space station, research was conducted for both Uppsala University and KTH. During today’s lecture, however, research in particular ended up a bit in the dark.
Anna Rathsman, director general at the Swedish Space Agency, was the moderator and, to the delight of the audience, focused a lot on the practical management.
Marcus tells us that the sleeping place at the station consisted of a module of 180 centimeters and even though he is 184cm tall, it went well thanks to the weightlessness.
– Funnily enough, I got the feeling that I was lying on a mattress. Once I tried to lower my leg to make sure I was still floating, but it didn’t work, it was like my brain had created a mental mattress.
In order to sleep safely, he had to fasten himself with seat belts.
– You students have probably fallen asleep during a lecture at some point – imagine if you had woken up and you were up on the roof!
Marcus Wandt received good advice from colleague Christer Fuglesang before departure.
Pekka Pääkkö
During the question and answer session, someone asks if he brought any Swedish food up to space.
– I brought licorice with me because I thought no one would like it. But it turned out that everyone liked it!
He also brought gingerbread up to the space station and managed to gather a bunch for a Swedish coffee.
Many raise their hands during the question period and in the end Anna Rathsman has to interrupt.
– Now Marcus doesn’t have time to stay any longer. The king wants to meet him!
Third Swede in space
On January 18, Marcus Wandt began his journey towards the international space station ISS and thus became the third Swede in space.
On February 9, the crew landed on the coast of Florida.
On the International Space Station, Marcus Wandt conducted an experiment on stem cells for Uppsala University and one on ergonomics for KTH.
Also on board the SpaceX rocket were mission specialist and commander Michael López-Alegría, pilot Walter Villadei, a colonel in the Italian Air Force, and mission specialist Alper Gezeravci from Turkey.
Source: The Swedish Space Agency
